Cal Meets Arkansas In EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Opener

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BERKELEY - California will take its 4-0 record on the road for the first time this season as the Golden Bears travel to Hawaii for the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational over the Thanksgiving week. Cal opens play in the prestigious three-day tournament at the Lahaina Civic Center on Monday, Nov. 25, at 12 p.m. (PT) against Arkansas.

Monday’s contest will be televised on ESPN2 with Jon Sciambi (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) on the call. The Cal/IMG radio network will broadcast the action on KSFO 560 AM in the Bay Area beginning at 11:30 a.m. (PT) with Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Todd McKim (analyst). Fans can listen to the game for free through the TuneIn app located on CalBears.com.

GOLDEN BEAR NOTES

• Cal has opened the season with four victories in four of its six years under the direction of head coach Mike Montgomery, including each of the last three seasons. The Bears defeated Coppin State (83-64), Denver (77-50), Oakland (64-60) and Southern Utah (75-47) in their first four contests.

• Cal has won its last 32 games in the month of November at Haas Pavilion. The Bears were last defeated in a November home game at Haas Pavilion on Nov. 12, 2004 (61-52 defeat to Saint Mary’s).

• Mike Montgomery is the NCAA’s ninth winningest active Division I head men’s basketball coach with 661 career victories in 31 seasons of collegiate coaching. Montgomery is the fourth-winningest coach in Pac-12 history with 272 career conference victories.

• Senior Richard Solomon ranks sixth in the nation in rebounding at 12.5 rpg. through Nov. 21. The forward has posted double-doubles in two of the first four games, setting a career-high rebounding total in two of the last three contests. Ending last season with 14 rebounds vs. Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament, Solomon posted 16 rebounds vs. Denver and 17 rebounds vs. Oakland.

• Senior Justin Cobbs has 25 assists in four games to give him 352 for his Cal Career. The Pac-12’s active career assist leader ranks fourth in the league this year and 10th on Cal’s all-time list.

CAL VS. THE EA SPORTS MAU INVITATIONAL FIELDCal owns an 8-9 all-time record against teams in the 2013 Maui Invitational Field. The Bears’ lone game against Arkansas, Cal’s opening-game opponent in the tournament’s championship, ironically was played in Hawaii as well. The Razorbacks defeated Cal, 74-58, on Dec. 30, 1986.

CAL'S HISTORY IN THE EA SPORTS MAUI INVITATIONALCal owns a 2-1 all-time record in its lone appearance in the Maui Invitational in 1996. In Ben Braun’s first game as head coach of the Bears, Cal defeated No. 25 Iowa (75-59). The Bears later lost to No. 2 Kansas (85-67) and earned the win over No. 15 Massachusetts (59-55).

MONTGOMERY MAKES THIRD TRIP TO MAUICalifornia head coach Mike Montgomery will be making his third trip to the EASPORTS Maui Invitational. He owns a 2-4 all-time record in the tournament with both trips coming as head coach of the Stanford Cardinal. Montgomery’s 1987 Stanford squad rebounded from an opening-game loss to Iowa (78-75) to post wins over Chaminade (93-82) and Baylor (69-56) in what was then called the Maui Classic. In 1992, Stanford lost all three of its games in the tournament, falling to LSU (72-63), DePaul (76-67) and Chaminade (71-63).

WIN IN MAUI OPENERCal opened play in the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational with a 64-60 victory over Oakland in front of 4,975 fans at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif. on Nov. 12. Freshman Jabari Bird led the Bears with a career-high 24 points, and was 6-for-8 from the three-point range. Senior Richard Solomon recorded a career-high 17 rebounds to go along with 11 points for his sixth career double-double in the victory.

CAL VS. THE SECCal is 11-15 all-time against current members of the Southeastern Conference. The Bears’ played SEC teams in back-to-back games in 2011, defeating Georgia (70-46) and falling to Missouri (92-53) in the Progressive College Basketball Experience Classic in Kansas City, Mo. At the time, Missouri was a member of the Big 12.

A LOOK AT ARKANSASArkansas enters the Maui Invitational 3-0 with wins over SIU-Edwardsville (99-65), Louisiana (76-63) and SMU (89-78). The Razorbacks are averaging 88.0 ppg. in their three wins. They are led by junior Alandise Harris at 18.3 ppg. Sophomore guards Michael Qualls and Anthlon Bell are contributing 16.3 ppg. and 12.3 ppg., respectively. Mike Anderson is in his third season as Arkansas’ head coach. Anderson, who served as head coach at Missouri for five seasons, coached Ricky Kreklow in his freshman season at Missouri in 2010-11.

SEASON OPENING SUCCESS UNDER MONTGOMERYCal has opened the season with four victories in four of its six years under head coach Mike Montgomery, including each of the last three seasons. The Bears own a 28-6 record in the month of November in the Mike Montgomery era. Cal has won its last 10 November contests, including a perfect 6-0 mark last season. The Bears’ last November defeat came at the hands of Missouri (92-53) on Nov. 22, 2011 in Kansas City, Mo. Cal has not lost a home game in the month of November in the Montgomery era.

ROAD OPENERSCal is 4-1 in its first game of the season outside Berkeley, Calif. in the Mike Montgomery era. Its lone defeat in its first game away from Berkeley during the stretch came to No. 13/15 Syracuse in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. on Nov. 19, 2009.

LEAGUE'S ACTIVE ASSIST LEADER CLIMB'S CAL'S LISTWith 352 assists in 71 games at Cal, Justin Cobbs is the Pac-12’s active assist leader. Cobbs’ 5.0 apg. career average ranks fourth in school history. He has 25 assists in the first four games and is 10th on the school’s all-time assist chart.

COBBS NAMED TO WATCH LIST FFOR BOB COUSY AWARDSenior Justin Cobbs has been selected to the preseason watch list for the 2014 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This watch list of 50 candidates will be narrowed down to a final 20 in early February.

KRAVISH AND SOLOMON LEAD BERKELEY BLOCK PARTYJunior David Kravish and senior Richard Solomon combined for 100 blocks last season to lead Cal to a school single-season record 161 in 33 games. Kravish broke the single-season school block mark with 63. Solomon was the first player with at least six points, six rebounds and six blocks in a game when he posted seven points, eight reb. and a career-high six blocks vs. WSU last season.

Through 71 career games, Kravish has totaled 111 blocks and ranks fourth on Cal’s career chart. Through 83 games, Solomon has posted 88 blocks to rank seventh on the list.

SOLOMON RANKS AMONG NATION'S BEST REBOUNDERSSenior Richard Solomon ranks sixth nationally with an average of 12.5 rpg. He has recorded 50 rebounds in four games, tied for second-most in the Pac-12. The senior has posted career-best rebounding totals in three of his last five games, dating back to last season. He recorded 17 rebounds vs. Oakland two games ago. In the forward’s last five games, he has recorded 64 total rebounds to go along with 66 combined points.

BIRD OFF TO BEST START AS A GOLDEN BEAR SINCE 2006Guard Jabari Bird’s 54 points is the best point total by a Cal freshman in his first four games since Ryan Anderson scored 85 in his first four contests in 2006. Bird’s point total (14) vs. Coppin State was the best for a Golden Bear in his first game since Nov. 15, 2006 when Anderson posted 20 points against Utah Valley State. Anderson is now in his sixth season in the NBA and second with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. Below is a comparison of Bird and Anderson’s first four games as a Golden Bear.